Weekly review
The FTSE 100 ended the week 71.87 points lower at 7,106.73.
Equity view
Rightmove posted an 11% rise in 2018 pre-tax profit on Friday, with growth in revenue and traffic, as the company said the UK online property advertising market is set to continue growing.
Dutch authorities have told Royal Dutch Shell that they are close to prosecuting the company over a case linked to alleged bribery in Nigeria.
London Stock Exchange reported a jump in profit and revenue for the full year on Friday as it saw "strong" growth across its core business divisions.
William Hill said the next few years "will require careful navigating and investment" as it reported results in line with expectations on Friday.
RSA Insurance posted a drop in 2018 underlying pre-tax profit on Thursday, dragged lower by its London Market business.
Building materials group CRH reported record earnings for 2018 on Thursday, thanks in part to good demand in the US.
Digital identity service Intercede has recorded the first sale of its MyID credential management software to an end customer in South East Asia.
Rentokil Initial said its revenue, profit and cash was all in excess of medium-term financial targets in its final results on Thursday, with ongoing revenue up 13.2% to £2.455bn at constant currency, ongoing operating profit ahead 13.3% to £329.3m at constant exchange rates, and free cash flow standing at £192.0m with a 94% cash conversion rate.
Full year pre-tax profits at engineering group Weir rose 22% to £310m as orders increased 15% on a like-for-like basis to £2.5bn.
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto rewarded shareholders on Wednesday with a bumper special dividend worth a total $4bn as part of $7bn payout.
Sports betting and gaming group GVC Holdings announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Playtech covering a new long-term commercial relationship between the two groups.
Wealth manager St James’s Place (SJP) on Wednesday said full year operating profits rose 9% to £1bn but warned of moderate growth in fund flows due to global economic uncertainty.
Specialty chemicals company Croda International announced a £150m special dividend on Tuesday as it said full-year pre-tax profit nudged higher.
UK engineering firm Babcock said it would take a one-off £10m tax hit and annual £10m charge on its European aerial firefighting business as a result of Brexit.
Persimmon topped £1bn of profits last year as the housebuilder's sales and margins were boosted by almost half its houses being sold under the government's Help to Buy scheme.
Marine services company James Fisher said full year pre-tax profits rose 17% to £55m due to solid performances from its marine support unit and growth in services provided to the UK renewables industry.
Distribution group Bunzl said it was stockpiling goods to mitigate against border delays if the UK crashed out of the European Union without a deal as it reported a rise in full year pre-tax profits.
Hiscox posted a trebling of its full-year pre-tax profit on Monday despite a busy year for claims, as gross written premiums rose and the insurer said it was ready for Brexit.
Oil services company Weir Group on Monday said it was selling its flow control division to private equity firm First Reserve for £275m in cash.
AstraZeneca announced on Monday that its phase 3 ‘THEMIS’ trial has met its primary endpoint, and demonstrated that ‘Brilinta’ (ticagrelor) - when taken in conjunction with aspirin - showed a statistically-significant reduction in a composite of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared to aspirin alone.
Economic news
UK manufacturers benefitted from further stockpiling last month, as companies looked to prepare for potential Brexit-related disruptions, with new orders almost stagnant.
Consumer and business lending jumped in January, Bank of England data showed on Friday.
House prices nudged higher in February, marginally ahead of forecasts, as the strong labour market helped balance out some of the uncertainty around Brexit.
Consumer confidence remained ‘stoic’ in February, despite ongoing concerns about the impact of Brexit, research published Thursday found.
Shop prices have reached a six-year high, data published on Wednesday showed, as retailers started to pass the cost of a weaker pound and higher oil prices onto consumers.
Recruiters' confidence in the UK economy has declined to the lowest since the EU referendum.
The number of new mortgages approved by the main high street lenders nudged upwards in January, data published on Tuesday showed.
Top executives of pharmaceutical companies are set to testify in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday as part of an investigation into drug pricing in the US.
Gambling companies are set to unite in a new trade body to lobby politicians against tougher regulations in the industry.
A ban on junk food advertising across London’s entire public transport network has come into effect on Monday.
International events
Eurozone inflation ticked a little higher in February, while the unemployment rate for January held steady, according to data released by Eurostat on Friday.
A deal to resolve the long-running trade war between the United States and China is "largely complete", according to a source cited by Politico.
The Vietnam summit between US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un broke down on Thursday after the latter requested that all sanctions against it be lifted, according to Trump.
The US economic expansion ebbed at the tail-end of 2018, as the pace of inventory accumulation and spending by households and the federal government slowed while state and local governments retrenched, albeit by less than had been anticipated.
European Union member states have agreed on tighter supervision of foreign investment firms, in a move which will give Brussels greater power over City firms post Brexit.
US pending home sales bounced back much more strongly than expected in January after hitting a near five-year low the previous month, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
Few changes in Germany's consumer climate are expected next month, despite a "steep" drop in economic expectations and dip in buying intentions.
European Council President Donald Tusk called on UK Prime Minister Theresa May to extend the Brexit final deadline, stating that it was the "rational solution" given the lack of consensus in the House of Commons.
The Spanish President, Pedro Sánchez, has announced plans for a massive increase in civil servant hiring ahead of the country's 28 April general elections.
US house price growth eased back in December, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.